Life's Not a Fairytale
by CielosDeNoche
Summary: Chloe was always loved by her parents, but one accident changes that forever. With her scarred, she doesn't let anyone in her life, except for her closest friends, but will someone change that? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

**Princess **

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><p>Steve Saunders watched as his newborn baby girl, Chloe, took hold of his index finger in her small hand. His wife, Jennifer, was watching from her hospital bed, smiling when her husband was caught under the spell of their daughter. It was today March 13, 1994 that they would always cherish with little baby Chloe.<p>

Chloe's father kept staring at her like she was his whole world, which she was. He now has the two most beautiful girls he could ever wish for.

Baby blue eyes stare right back at him, the eyes showing curiosity. Steve looks at his finger in Chloe's little hand, and notices that she has started to pull his finger towards her mouth. Jennifer laughs out loud when Chloe shoves Steve's index finger into her mouth, still staring at her father's face. He lets out a chuckle, but doesn't take away his finger out.

Minutes pass, with Chloe still having her Dad's finger in her mouth. A nurse comes in, explaining that Jennifer needed to rest after giving birth to her daughter. The nurse then came over to Steve and took his baby out of his arms. Chloe started to whimper a little, then let out a scream, missing the comfy arms, that once held her. The nurse tried to quiet her down, by rocking her, but she wouldn't stop. An idea popped in the nurse's head and she handed Chloe back to Steve. She quieted down quickly, liking the feeling of his arms around her again.

"I think it will be best if you carry your daughter back to the nursery." The nurse said smiling at them both.

"Okay, I think I will. Jenny, you get some rest. Okay?" He said to his wife. She nodded and let her eyes close as her head hit the pillow. Steve grabbed his jacket and made his way out of his wife's room.

The nurse walked ahead with Steve walking behind her, Chloe safely tucked in his arms. He was nervous enough that he was gonna drop her any second. He let out a sigh of relief when they made it to the room where all newborn baby's were staying.

The walking must have made baby Chloe bored, because now she was silently sleeping, with her mouth opened a little.

The nurse took Chloe from Steve and went into the room, to put her down to rest. Steve watched from the window that showed the inside of the room. He had a feeling that his daughter was gonna become a Daddy's girl. Steve smiled widely at the thought. He turned around and proceeded to walking down the corridor towards the exit door of the hospital.

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><p>12 Months Later:<p>

Chloe was now a one-year-old toddler. Her hair's strawberry blonde that she got from her mother.

Jenny had let out a cry of surprise when she came into the living room one morning. She was eating breakfast and when she walked into the living room to see if Chloe was alright, she was up on her feet, trying to walk. Jenny quickly videotaped the whole thing with her cell phone and then sent the video to Steve who was working early.

Chloe tried to walk over to her mother, but she tripped over her own feet, but before she could fall, Jennifer caught her and threw her up in the air. Chloe giggled and squealed every time she was thrown and then caught by her mother.

Months pass with Chloe starting to get the hang of walking. She also started to act more mature then her age.

Steve was proud of his growing baby girl. He was angry at himself for missing Chloe's first steps. Chloe started to walk more, with Steve and Jennifer there, looking at her with so much love.

Chloe didn't know that she was the most loved girl on the planet.

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><p><strong>This is my first Darkest Powers fanfic. Hope you all will like it. This will become a story and of course other DP characters will come in later. Yes, this will be a ChloexDerek story, but I'm slowly working my way towards them. <strong>

**Just to let everyone know, they are all human. No super powers. **

**Thanks for reading and please review! Thanks. **

**- CielosDeNoche**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't anything. **

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

**The Past is the Past **

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><p>Fourteen Years Later:<p>

Chloe watched as both her parents were slowly lowered into the ground. They both died tragically in a car accident. Everyone expected her to cry at their funeral, but not one single tear escaped from her baby blue eyes. Chloe's Aunt Lauren, had her arm around Chloe's shoulders. She was the only person alive, from her sister's side, and was the closest to Chloe herself.

Inside Chloe, things were . Loss. Anger. Loneliness. Sadness.

She just stared at the ground. Not doing anything. At fifteen years of age, Chloe knew it was going to be hard without her parents by her side. High school was slowly nearing and she was already nervous. Chloe remembered the times when she entered a new school year, her mother and herself would run down the stairs to get rid of the nerves. Sure her Aunt Lauren was gonna be there, but she wasn't the same like her sister. No one could ever replace her mother. Neither her father.

For the next couple of years, Chloe will just have to grow up by herself.

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><p><strong>Chloe's POV <strong>

Driving Victoria Bae, aka Tori, was a living hell. I would always arrive early, so I could honk for about twenty times. No joke. I thought by now, her neighbors would threaten to throw eggs at me or something, but they haven't. Which I was glad for. I let out a sigh of relief when I finally saw Tori walk out of her front door. She was wearing black skinny jeans, with a pink tank top, and her black hair was down in waves.

"Geez. Would you quit the whole honking thing! It's starting to get on my nerves." She said, while buckling herself in.

"And good morning to you too Tori!" I said, while I got my car in drive.

"Ugh, whatever. I was just getting some news from Simon. I know it's weird for me to talk for my own brother, but apparently there's gonna be a new kid at school today!" Before I could say anything, Tori started to talk again. "Rumor is, his name is Derek Souza, or something. I don't know. Anyways some girl saw him moving into the neighborhood, like a week ago. And according to her, he's totally hot!" I wrinkled my nose when she finished. Our school doesn't need another jock guy, who just gets laid and has a new girl everyday.

"A hot guy? Oh gosh. Every time someone says that, the guy's either, a) a player, b) a jerk, or c) all of the above and more!" I snort. Not very attractive, I know.

"Chloe, you've been hiding behind your hoodies for a long time. I know of what happened to your family, but I mean come on. Quit hiding and come out of your shell. The past is the past." And those are her finally words the whole ride to school. I don't say anything and neither does she. Tori and I are best friends, even though we're both _very _different. Nobody knows why I hide behind sunglasses and hoodies, only Tori and her brother, Simon know why. After my parents died, I started to hide the real me. Everyone says I'm weird, when in truth I'm not at all. I'm just a normal teenager, who still can't get over the feeling of loss.

Once we get to school, we see a huge crowd at the front of the school. I turn to stare at Tori. "Looks like the new guy is here." I told her and put my backpack on my shoulder. I was about to pass the crowd, but then I was being pulled by Tori.

"Come on, I gotta ask Simon something. If it really is the new guy or just Liam and his gang again." She continued to pull me and I let her, having no other choice.

We reached Simon only to find a new looking guy, that I haven't seen at school at all. I'm sure Tori hadn't seen him either, because she stopped walking. Her mouth opened a little. I looked around the crowd, ignoring the new guy. I spotted Simon and waved at him. He smiled when he saw me and started to wave me over. This time, it was me who pulled Tori towards Simon.

When we reached him, Tori started to bomb him with questions. The only question I managed to catch was, "Is that the new kid, with you guys?" I looked over Simon's shoulder. The new guy was so _tall, _it made me jealous. He was wearing jeans and a black v-neck, with boots. Jet black fell in his eyes.

"Yeah that's Derek." Simon said, pointing and looking behind him. "He looked lost, so all of us thought it would be cool to show him around ourselves." He then gave us a million dollar smile. Tori wrinkled her nose, while I gave him a little smile.

"That's really nice of you Simon, did you-" I was then caught off, when an arm was thrown over my shoulders. I looked behind me and saw that it was Brent, my best guy friend, apart from Simon. "Hey, Brent." I say sending him a small smile.

"Hey, yourself. How many times have I told you, not to wear hoodies anymore?" I cringe. Tori and Simon both laughed loudly which made Derek look over. Green emerald eyes stared right back at my baby blue eyes. I broke the contact, by elbowing Brent in the ribs. He laughed and walked away, sending me a wink. I felt my face start to heat up, which only caused the Bae siblings to laugh more.

"Yeah, keep laughing. You guys suck." I said looking down at the ground.

"Aww, we're just kidding Chlo. Don't get mad." Simon said. I smiled when they both pulled me into a hug.

"Eww, get away from me Simon." Tori said, which made me laugh. Simon narrowed his eyes and held his arms wide open. Tori's eyes widened and she started to run, with Simon running after her, arms still open. The bell then rang, telling us to get to class. I was about to turn around to get Tori's backpack, when I was met by a flesh, breathing wall.

"I-I'm soooo sorry! I didn't-" I broke off when I noticed who it was.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 done! Yay! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, means a lot. :)<strong>

**Keep reviewing! Don't be shy! :D **

**- CielosDeNoche**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Courage **

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><p>Derek Souza was looking down at me, his eyes filled with curiosity. His eyes were also an emerald green color. While I was staring, the world seemed to be disappearing around us. There was only Derek and me. I opened my mouth to say something, but he beat me to it.<p>

"Sorry. I didn't see you there." His voice was like wind chimes to my ears. I shook my head out of my thoughts. How could I even start to have feelings for this guy if I don't even know him at all?

"No, no. It's okay." I told him, looking down at my feet.

"Umm... I was actually wondering i-if y-you k-knew where..." he looked down at his schedule in his hands. "Where Mrs. Williams' English class is?" Derek had stuttered. And his hands started to shake, like he was nervous.

"Oh, uh... yeah. I have her right now. We can walk together if you want..." I let my sentence hang, wondering if Derek even wanted to walk with a freak like me. Everyone didn't like me except for Simon, Brent, and Tori. I didn't blame the people that ignored me, I was five-foot nothing and I always wore hoodies.

"-nice." I was so into my thoughts that I didn't even hear Derek talk at all.

"Uh, sorry? Can you repeat that again? Please?" I asked him. My face heating up. Derek looked at me and I swear that I saw his lips twitch into a smile, but it disappeared quickly.

"I said, that would be nice." I looked at him. Something inside me jumped at his words and my stomach started to flutter like butterfly wings.

"Great, let me just-" I was cut off my someone bumping into me really hard that it made me start to fall to the ground. I braced myself for impact, but it never came. Two strong arms were wrapped around me, stopping me from falling to the concrete. My pulse started to race. I was sure Derek could hear it. I pulled myself away from him, muttering a 'thanks.'

"Geez, Chloe. You seriously don't have balance at all." Tori said coming into my view with her backpack over her shoulder. Her hair was frizzy from all the running around that Simon caused her to do. I glared at her when I saw that a smirk was on her lips, eyeing Derek and me. I stepped back a little.

"Yes, well I was born with it. Plus, you knew that I'm unbalanced already. Why did you push me anyways?" Tori still had that stupid smirk on her lips.

"I just needed to get to my backpack, but you were in my way." I narrowed my eyes at her again, but she didn't notice. She was too busy looking at her pink manicured nails.

"Couldn't you at least walked around me instead of pushing me?" I told her, rolling me eyes at her when she started to walk away. Tori turned around to face me. She was now walking backwards.

"Where would the fun be in that? See ya later, Chloe!" She winked at me and walked away to her classroom. I sighed and turned to look at Derek again, who was watching me with confused eyes. I shook my head at him.

"Tori's weird like that. So, of to English we go." Oh, Chloe. That was _so _lame. My face starts to heat up, but before Derek could see it, I start to walk towards English. Derek following close behind.

I hear a clearing of a throat. I look over my shoulder to Derek. "So, I'm guessing your name's Chloe?" The way he said me name, made my heart flutter.

"Yeah, that would be me. Chloe Saunders." I said, falling into step beside him.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Chloe." I shivered. The way he said it made my pulse quicken. I just nodded at him and muttered a 'you too' and continued on to our English class. Before we reached Mrs. Williams' class, the bell rang. I looked up startled and noticed that there was nobody on campus except for Derek and me.

When I opened the door to Mrs. Williams' English class, she glared at me. I cringed away from her and from all the students staring at me. "Ms. Fray, care to explain why you are late to my class?" I started to stutter out a sentence, but Derek saved me.

"It was my fault Mrs. Williams, I asked her if she could show me around the campus before school started and we lost track of time." When Derek came into view, I heard gasps from all the girls in the classroom. They were all staring dreamily at him and something inside me started to flare like a flame.

"Oh, well then. That was nice of you Chloe. Now both of you go take a seat." Mrs. Williams turned around to write something on the white board. I lowered my head as I started to walk towards the two seats at the back. With my blonde hair covering both sides of my face, I didn't see Emily's bag that she had dropped just as I passed her desk. I tripped over it, causing me to fall to the ground for the second time today. Then again, Derek got a strong hold of my arm that kept me from falling.

"Ugh. You should have let her fall, she's a freak." Emily mocked-whispered it to Derek. I yanked my arm out of Derek's grasp and continued walking on to my desk. I heard Derek say something to Emily, but I didn't catch any of it.

I pulled my hood over my head, just as I sat down. Mrs. Williams didn't complain about me wearing the hood in class since I was a straight A student. I heard Derek take a seat beside me, but I didn't acknowledge him at all. Instead, I tried to pay attention to what Mrs. Williams was talking about, but the date that was on the board caught my attention. It was August 12... tomorrow was the day my parents' died.

As Mrs. Williams talk and talked about some English project she was going to make us do, tears started to sting my eyes. I looked down at my lap as a tear managed to escape. The lonesome tear was then followed by others. I felt someone touch my elbow.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I don't own anything.

**Okay, I suck at ending chapters, but meh. LOL. It's an easy guess of who touched Chloe's elbow. Any who, sorry for the late update. I won't be updating for at least a week or two since school is starting for me soon this Thursday.**

** Thanks for reading! Review! **

**~ CielosDeNoche**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Somebody Save Me **

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><p>I quickly brought my hand up to my face to wipe away the tears. Taking a deep breath, I turned to look at Derek. He was looking at me with concerned eyes.<p>

I felt a small smile take form. "I'm fine, don't worry about it." Derek didn't seem convinced, but he let it drop which I was glad for. I couldn't handle this right now. We didn't talk at all to each other during the rest of the period.

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><p>Just as I thought Derek wasn't going to ask me about what had happened, he pulled me towards a corner. We both had brunch which meant we wouldn't miss our classes.<p>

"What happened during English?" I bowed my head, making my hair fall in front of my face a little. From under my eyelashes, I saw Derek lift his hand, like he was going to push my hair away, but he let his hand fall down back to his side. I cleared my throat.

"Nothing... It was nothing... I gotta go." I turned away from him and quickly walked away, heading towards the main office. When I was about to make a left, I turned my head to look back at Derek. He was looking at me, with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Once I got to the main office I asked one of the office ladies if I could use the phone. At my age, many expect me to have one, but I didn't see the reason why I needed one. I quickly dialed Aunt Lauren's cell phone number.

She answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Aunt Lauren? It's me, Chloe." I replied.

"Chloe, hunny, what's the matter?" She asked worried present in her voice.

"Nothing, nothing. Just... Have you seen the date today?" I asked her, hoping she wouldn't make me say it.

"What are y-... Oh. Want me to pick you up from school, hun?"

"Yes, please." I replied, trying to hide my tears from the office ladies. I sniffed and wiped my tears away.

"Okay, I'll be there in a little while. Wait for me in the office, alright?"

"Okay. And Aunt Lauren... thanks."

"Your welcome Chlo. See you soon." I hung up the phone.

After saying some words back and forth with our attendance lady, I took a seat close to the front door of the office. Sitting, I pulled out my novel I had to read for English. Minutes passed with me lost in my book, till a door opened. Someone entered the office, heading to the principal's office.

Since the principal's office was in front of me, I saw our high school principal come out and introduce himself to someone.

You know that saying when you can feel someone staring at you, well that feeling made me look up.

Mr. Wilmer was introducing himself to Derek Souza.

Derek freakin' Souza.

He wasn't paying attention to Mr. Wilmer. He was staring at me.

Staring. At. Me.

Something about his stare made me squirm under his intense stare. Like he was trying to figure out why I was in the office even though the bell had rung.

I shook my head and looked back down to my book in my lap. I pretended to read, but I was trying to listen in on what Mr. Wilmer was telling Derek. I only got bits of information.

"- _more then any other student_."

"... change classes?"

"-_ don't want to? Why not?_"

Somewhere in between their conversation, they started to speak somewhat louder. Or maybe because everyone was wondering why they were talking outside instead of inside Mr. Wilmer's office.

"I just like the classes I have right now." Derek said.

"Are you sure you don't want to get into much more advanced classes? These papers from your previous school say a lot of how intelligent you are." Mr. Wilmer replied.

"Yes, I'm sure. Thanks for the offer anyways, sir." As Derek finished, the front door to the office swung open revealing Aunt Lauren.

I stuffed my book in my backpack and swung it to my shoulder. Aunt Lauren signed a paper and then we both walked out of the office.

Before the door closed, I risked a glance back at Derek.

He was still staring, but this time he surprised me.

Derek lifted his hand and waved me goodbye with a small smile on his face.

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><p><strong>Yes, I know it is late and I'm sorry. I've had tests and quizzes every week, I'm not even lying. I'll try to update as soon as possible, as soon as I can, promise! :) <strong>

**Also sorry about the spaces and how short it is. I just felt bad that i left you all hanging lol.  
><strong>

**Tell me what you guys think about this chapter. Review please! **

** Thanks for reading! **

**~ CielosDeNoche **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Requiem On Water**

Waking up, I looked out the window closest to my bedside. The sun's rays were shining on the forest that were hidden at the back of Aunt Lauren's house. I looked at my alarm clock, noticing an orange colored post-it note. It read:

_Chloe, _

_ I needed to get to the hospital early today. I won't be back till midnight. There's some left over casserole and pizza in the fridge if you get hungry. _

_Love, _

_Aunt Lauren_

Frowning, I got up and headed to the bathroom. I rinsed my face and changed into a pair of skinny jeans with a white v-neck and sweater. After I finished braiding my hair to the side, I grabbed my sketchpad and some colored pencils and headed out the front door, towards the lushes green forest.

**D-D-D-D-D**

The forest was, well its like any other forest. Tall trees and flowers were everywhere. You would get lost immediately if you didn't know where you were going. Bird nests were in trees, the mother birds feeding their chicks. Fallen leaves were covering the ground. As I stepped on them, the leaves rustled. The tree trunks were covered with moss, some were hanging on the branches, making it look like the trees had hair. The squirrels were chattering along with the sound of the trees groaning against the force of the morning wind. The forest had an earthy smell, along with the occasional smell of pine. With the wind blowing, it provided the forest with the smell of water from the river not too far away. As I ran my fingers along some of the trees, the bark felt rough, but very pleasant at the same time. Leaves would fall, kissing my arms or face as they fell to the ground. Sticky sap also were on the bark, but I ignored touching them. Last time I touched the sap, my fingers were sticky and it ended up getting me annoyed. I lifted my face, loving the way the sun's rays hit me, tree branches in the way made shadows appear. I breathed in the cool air and continued walking, making me smile from how the mushy earth felt beneath my feet.

Pushing branches out of the way, my face was set in awe as I finally noticed that I had arrived at the river. Nobody knew that this river was here, the first time I had seen it, I raced back home and looked at the map. Nothing was on there. Since I didn't like to call it 'the river' I decided to name it Panem River.

I looked around and started to walk toward the log not too far away from the river. I swiped it free from any dirty particles before sitting down. I set my sketchpad and pencils aside, instead, breathing in the cool air the river gave off as it splashed. The tinted morning sky gave me an idea what to sketch in my book.

Quickly, I opened my sketchpad to a new, unused blank page and started to sketch out the scene of the river in front of me. Swirls of colors of blue, green, brown, outlining rocks with black, made my whole sketch come alive. The small coloring of yellow brought out what the sun was highlighting.

Even though I was more into looking for a job as a director, sketching was something that sort of was like my back-up plan in case if my first choice wouldn't work out. A small 'ribbit' made me look up from my sketching. There, sitting on top of a rock was a small frog, looking at me with its brown, beady eyes. I raised my eyebrows, causing another 'ribbit' to come from it. A small smile graced my face as I looked back at the sketch I had done. Adding a few colorings here and there, I finished and quickly turned the page to a fresh one.

I looked up to see if the green frog was still there, I spotted it not too far from where it used to be. Sketching the frog was easy enough for me to finish in minutes. Somehow, I had a feeling that the frog knew I was sketching him. After I had captured every color of the frog, I turned the sketchpad toward it, noticing the way his eyes moved a little to look at it. It seemed satisfied, considering that he jumped off the rock and started to walk away.

Shaking my head, I looked back and forth between my sketches. Back at Aunt Lauren's house, sketches filled one side of my wall, containing sketches of my parents, Aunt Lauren to the Bae siblings. Now two more were going to be added on the wall.

The sound of twigs crunching made me whip my head to the side. There stood the one person I thought I would never see till school started again on Monday.

Derek stood not too far away from where I was sitting. His eyebrows were crunched together and his breathing was really shallow. It didn't take long for me to notice that he didn't have a shirt on, exposing his very well toned body. He usual hair was plastered to his face with sweat. The running shoes and shorts made me realize that Derek was jogging.

His lips parted, mouth ready to speak, but a 'bark' stopped him from saying anything. I tried to turn my head to see where it was coming from I didn't notice that a blur of white and black was coming towards me. Next thing I knew, I was knocked down to the ground, a dog on top of me, growling.

I heard Derek say a name along with a whistle, but my attention was directed towards the dog that looked to be ready to bite me into pieces. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the dog's mood changed. Going from a growling, vicious dog to a happy dog. With its tongue hanging out of his mouth and tail swinging from side to side in happiness.

What he did next was something I was not expecting. His large head dipped down to my face... to lick me. My eyes widened in surprise as he barked and stepped away from me. I sat up, rubbing the back of my head where it had made contact with rocks on the ground. The dog barked again, I looked up and noticed that Derek was crouching down next to him, petting his head.

After catching my breath, Derek said, "Sorry about that, Sky here always does that."

"It's okay," Derek smiled and looked down at his dog, "so what are you doing here? I thought I was the only one who knew about this river, guess I was wrong."

"Well after I moved in, I just wandered in the forest and discovered this place," a bark came from Sky as he looked up at his owner. " Oh, sorry. I meant _Sky _found it."

"What a smart dog." A smile graced my face again. Two smiles in a day, made me realize I was changing from the antisocial to a smiley person.

Lowering my eyes, I took notice – _again - _that Derek didn't have a shirt. My face started to heat up, I lowered my head, hoping that Derek didn't notice.

"Have you walked around the forest apart from here?" Derek crossed his arms across his chest. I shook my head at him. A smirk crossed his face, causing my heart to skip a beat.

"Well, we should change that. Come on." He offered his hand out to me, I accepted. Grabbing Derek's hand made my insides turn into a big blob of mush.

Sky barked again, and started to walk away from us. Once I was on my feet, I dusted away the dirt off my back and butt, cheeks heating in embarrassment as Derek watched my every move. I went over to the log and picked up my sketchpad along with my pencils.

"Ready?" I nodded at Derek as I clutched my things to my chest. "You know, you don't talk a lot Chloe." There goes the mushiness inside again. _What is this guy doing to me?_

"I know," I whispered silently as we walked side by side. "I'm not really fond of talking a lot." I told him honestly, catching a glimpse of Sky far ahead. He seemed to be chasing something in the river.

"Guess I have to change that too." I glanced up at Derek, a small smile forming on his lips.

"What do you mean?"

"That I won't stop chasing you till you talk more and see how big this forest really is." _Chasing _me? The sound of my pounding heart was the only thing I could hear.

_I won't stop chasing you. I won't stop chasing you. I won't stop chasing you. _The words kept repeating over and over in my head as we walked deeper into the forest.

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><p><strong>*p.s: pictures of Chloe's sketches and Derek's dog, Sky, are on my profile.<strong>

**A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't updated for this story in awhile. I was just uninspired and school got hectic with Finals and stuff, but the good news was that I passed all that two weeks ago. Now I'm on winter break! :) **

**Hopefully this chapter made up for the months that I didn't update. I really hope it did or I would be very disappointed in myself. **

**So this took me like two days to type up because I would always go back and erase some stuff so like I said, hopefully you all weren't disappointed. Derek & Chloe will be going in the forest to walk... and occasionally talk to each other. Yes, Derek is very OOC, but I wanted him to be the nice guy instead of the antisocial Derek. Don't get me wrong, I love Kelley's character, but for this I wanted to change him. **

**PLEASE REVIEW, I BEG YOU! I'm already working on the next chapter, so if I get 10 reviews I 'll put it up maybe today. ;) Thanks for reading! **

**~ CielosDeNoche**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**In the Mourning **

Swirls of green and brown filled my vision as Derek led us farther into the forest. Sky barked, not too far away from us. He swiveled his head to look at us, then back at whatever was ahead. With his tail swinging from side to side, Sky sprinted after something.

"Is he always this energetic?" I asked Derek, as I tried my best not to trip on any of the roots in the ground.

"Yeah," A bark echoed the forest. Derek, with all his shirtless glory, was walking beside me. I wanted to ask him if he was ever going to put on a shirt, but I liked him without one actually. I mentally slapped myself, I barley knew this guy and I already preferred him shirtless.

"My dad got Sky because of being so energetic actually. Saying that we would be BFFs," Derek added quotes with his fingers around 'BFFs.' A small smile crawled its way on my mouth, making Derek grin back at me.

Thinking Sky knew where we were going, I kept looking for his black and white fur. I sometimes caught sight of him, sometimes not. From time to time, my uncoordinated feet chose the moment to get caught with some roots on the way. Derek was always near me, grabbing a hold of my shoulder or arm before I could meet the muddy ground. My face would heat up from embarrassment, with me always muttering a quite 'thanks.' Derek would just chuckle quietly, while continuing to walk.

**x-x-x-x**

"Sky, will you quit playing around with the frog?" Derek asked Sky as we stopped a few feet away from him. Sky was too busy pawing the ground and moving from side to side to be paying any attention to his owner. A small 'ribbit' sounded, making me inch forward towards Sky. There, sitting on the ground, was the frog I had drawn not too long ago. I remembered him because of the brown lines the frog had on his forearms.

"It seems like I followed him, even though I didn't," I said, looking over my shoulder at Derek. He raised his eyebrow in question. I quickly opened my sketchbook to the page of my sketch, and showed it to him. Derek's eyes widened in awe, his mouth forming a quite 'wow.'

I blushed. "This is... I don't even have words to describe it, because it's impossible to," his eyes seemed to be tracing every line of the sketch, almost like he was engraving it into his mind.

Feeling embarrassed by his statement, I walked towards Sky and the frog. It's beady eyes watching every movement Sky did with his paws. Every once in a while, it would jump at Sky, causing him to jump back in surprise, but continue on with his game.

"Sky, will you leave the poor frog alone?" I asked, crouching down next to Sky. His head turned towards me and tilted to the side. "What?" I questioned.

All I received as an answer was another 'bark.' Sky came closer to my side and sat down on his butt. The next thing he did startled me, Sky leaned his body on my left side. Quickly getting over it, I brought up my left hand to his head and started to pet him. His eyes would close and open again every time I did it.

The sound of feet coming towards me made me turn my head around. Derek was looking back and forth between Sky and me. He quietly sat down next to me, and turned his attention back to my sketchbook that I had forgotten he still had.

"Sky must really like you to let you pet him," he said. Sky turned his head at the sound of his name, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "He never usually lets strangers pet him." Derek turned his attention to me then. Emerald eyes capturing my baby blue eyes.

"Then I must be special," my voice barley a whisper. I never wanted something as much as I wanted him to agree to what I had said. That I am special.

He looks up at me again, "You are special."

I look away then, my hair making a shield between us. The confusion sets in my mind, my brain pounding in my head. Before I had wanted him to tell me that I am special, but now I knew I shouldn't have wished for it.

A hand brushes my hair back on my ear. Sky moves away, letting his owner conquer the spot where he used to be. I know I want him to want me, but I can't. Shouldn't. It'd be impossible for someone as good as Derek to like me. Heck even to love me.

"Chloe...?" That's where every thing ends for the day. With him saying my name, I quickly get up from where I was sitting and started sprinting through the forest.

My color pencils and sketchbook forgot, I just needed to get out of the forest and away from him. I could hear my name being yelled out, the occasional barking of Sky joining in. I just hoped Sky wouldn't follow me.

Arms kept pushing branches out of the way, my feet still hitting the ground with the force of running. I would slip and fall, but get up just as quickly. My breath started to come out ragged, water stinging my eyes as I continued to run.

Reaching Aunt Lauren's house, I yanked open the back door and locked it. Running up the stairs to my room, I shut the door and closed the curtains on my window. Sitting on my bed, I took off my shoes and crawled on my bed. Laying down, I curled into a ball and let the tears hit me.

My sobbing continued on as I remembered the horrible car crash that ended my parents' lives. Where my life went downhill till this day still threatening to fall.

I blame myself for being the weak one in the situation. I've seen others who've lost a relative or like me, their parents. They all move along with bright smiles on their faces everyday as I watch on with my sullen face, cowering away from the rest of the world.

I'm afraid to let anyone into my life. I'm afraid that I'll lose them like my parents. I'm antisocial because I'm afraid. I'm afraid of this world we all call planet Earth. I'm afraid of what I'll find or what I have to do later in life.

I'm afraid of ever letting someone love me...

**x-x-x-x**

After minutes of salty water running down my face, I have stopped only to let out hiccuping sounds. I wipe my face with my blanket I had draped over myself. Sitting up, I glance at my clock, taking note that it's barley 7:30pm.

Sighing as I get up, I walked over to my window and opened my curtains. The last yellow hue of the sun fading behind the mountains. Leaning on the window, I feel the cool breeze that passes by, making goosebumps pop on my arms.

Turning around I walked over to my sketches that were taped on my wall, making me remember what had occurred earlier today. My sketchbook and color pencils in the hands of Derek, I doubted he would have left them in the forest. I wondered how I could possibly ever get them back without us having any kind of conversation or explaining why I had ran away.

Shaking my head I pressed play on my iPod that was casually plugged in with the speakers to be played. The sweet melodies of Live, U2, Linkin Park, and Coldplay being heard by my ears, making me relax.

"_The angel opens her eyes/Pale blue colored iris_"

"_And love, it's not the easy thing_"

"_Do you feel cold and lost in desperation__/You build up hope, but failure's all you've known__/Remember all the sadness and frustration__/And let it go, let it go_"

"_And the tears come streaming down your face/When you lose something you can't replace/When you love someone, but it goes to waste/Could it be worse?_"

The songs made me realize what I already know to be true. I have to let all this pain inside me out. I have to move on with my life, I know it's what my parents would want from me. For me to forget, it'd be like forgetting them and I don't want that.

I let out a frustrated groan out, Coldplay's song not helping at all. Tears spring to my eyes as I try to make sense of what life really is. Life is an enigma. You won't know whats going to happen until the time comes for you to know.

Sitting down on the carpeted floor I try to regain my strength to stop my tears. I take in a deep breath and let it out, my fingers looking for a distraction. I find a white sheet of paper and a pencil. My hand starts to sketch out what I see in my mind, tears falling on the paper. This is my only escape.

It is my freedom.

As I finish, I notice what I had sketched. Something I thought was out of my mind long ago. With my eyes frantically searching for the tape, I stand up and take a piece. My shaking hands just manage to put up the sketch on my wall next to the others.

I had sketched Derek and Sky.

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><p><strong>AN: It has been too long my fellow readers & I apologize to you all. I had this chapter in my computer for a long time, but never had the time to finish it till today. **

**I know that the characters are all OOC, but I had to make them like they are. **

**Thank you to everyone that has reviewed/read my story, means a lot & I hope this chapter made up for the months I didn't update for. **

**Tell me your thoughts in reviews. :)**

**~ CielosDeNoche**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Let Change Come **

Possibly ignoring Derek Souza may have to be the hardest thing I would ever have to do. Since he sat beside me in English, it was impossible to not pay attention to him. First, he passed me a note asking why I had ran away from him in the forest. I ended up crumbling the paper and passing it back to him. Then he tried to talk to me like whispering my name once in a while, it was close to the point where I would just give in and talk to him, but luckily he stopped before I could say anything.

Let's just say that went on for about two weeks till he finally caught me alone during lunch. I silently cursed myself as Derek sat down across from me. I really wished Tori and Simon would come back soon.

"So, what are you eating Chloe?" Derek asked, staring at me with his hands on the table. His jet black hair semi-covering his emerald green eyes.

I swallowed before answering. "A sandwich." I stuffed my mouth with another piece, just so I could annoy him. It seemed to work.

"Come on, Chloe. You can't run away again like you did in the forest," he said, slightly annoyed. "Like I said, I'll keep chasing you."

Blood boiled in my veins. I should just get this conversation over with already. Setting my sandwich on top of the paper bag, I crossed my arms across my chest and looked pointedly at Derek.

"What do you want to ask me?" I questioned.

He locked eyes with me. "I want to know why you ran away from me that day by the forest?"

Silence. That silence stretches for minutes as my brain seeks for an answer. Should I even tell him the truth or will I sound like an idiot? I start to remember that day.

**x-x-x-x**

_A hand brushes my hair back on my ear. Sky moves away, letting his owner conquer the spot where he used to be. I know I want him to want me, but I can't. Shouldn't. It'd be impossible for someone as as Derek to like me. Heck even to love me. _

_ "Chloe...?" That's where every thing ends for the day. With him saying my name. I quickly get up from where I was sitting and started sprinting through the forest. _

**x-x-x-x**

"Chloe?" I look up at Derek. My eyesight slightly blurred by tears I wished would just disappear. "Are you alright?"

I nod and close my eyes to make my tears go away. "I ran away because I thought you were going to do something that I wasn't ready for." I declared, looking away.

Confusion took over Derek's face as I looked back at him. His mouth opened, which looked like he wanted to ask what I had meant, but soon his features changed.

He replied with an "Oh." Which meant he had gotten what I had meant.

"I wouldn't have... you know... kissed you without your permission," Derek confessed, as he took hold of one of my hands across the table.

"Thanks," I mumbled, pulling my hand away as I spotted Tori walking back to the table, Simon in tow. I quickly cleaned my face with my shirt sleeve and grabbed my sandwich again.

"Derek, so nice of you to join Chloe," Tori acknowledge. She sent a wink at me as I looked at her. Simon rolled his eyes at his sister's antics, muttering something about 'girls' towards Derek, causing him to let out a booming laugh.

Tori and I looked at each other then we both threw a fry towards Simon, who tried to duck, only to fall over from the bench he was sitting on. I laughed, my hood falling off of my head.

It seemed like the table had gone silent. I stopped laughing, a small smile still on my face as I looked around at my table. Tori had her mouth hanging open, Derek had a small smile with a glint of something in his eyes, and Simon who was peeking from behind the table, with a shocked expression. Which caused me to let out another laugh at how weird he looked, especially with his eyes wide with shock. I was about to ask them what was wrong until I remembered what I had done. I had laughed. _Twice._ Not to mention that my hood had fallen and was revealing the same strawberry blond hair my mom had.

I was about to put my hood back on, but I felt a hand take hold of my wrist. Tori shook her head in a silent 'no' and lowered my hand till it was on my lap. Derek and Simon, who was now sitting on the bench again, were stilling looking at me in 'awe'.

"Well what do you know, you practically have two guys drooling over you only by laughing and showing them your hood less head," Tori joked, throwing another fry at her brother and Derek. "Quit drooling you guys."

I felt a blush overtake my cheeks as both boys shook their heads and tried to distract themselves with something else. I ran a hand through my hair, getting rid of some of the knots caused by my hood.

"Oh yeah, I have your sketchbook and colored pencils, Chloe," Derek announced, causing Tori to look at me, eyebrows raised. I shamefully shrug at her, at take hold of my art supplies as Derek handed them to me. I muttered a quiet thanks and stuffed them into my backpack.

**x-x-x-x**

After school was over, I had to walk home because of Tori having to go to a dance rehearsal taking place in the gym. Simon would have walked me home if he didn't have basketball practice. Which lead to me walking alone to Aunt Lauren's house.

With the school disappearing behind me, I continued walking towards my destination. The light breeze of wind blew my exposed hair flying in all directions. Cursing silently to myself, I grabbed hold of the hair tie I had around my wrist and pulled all of my hair back into a ponytail. It helped somewhat. As I was doing that, I didn't notice a tall figure coming up from behind me, until they poke me from behind. I spun around, only to be greeted by no one, as I turned around though, I let out a small yelp.

In front of me stood Derek, a small laugh bubbling in his throat. I glared at him as I walked by him, without out saying anything. I heard him sigh then footsteps following me from behind. I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"Sorry, Chloe." He was standing in front of me again, hindering me from where I wanted to be at the moment.

Meeting my baby blues with his emerald eyes I said, "It's alright." We both awkwardly stood there till I made a gesture to continue walking. "So, why are you stalking me?" I asked suddenly curious.

"Oh, Simon told me to catch up with you. He told me you were walking home alone," Derek replied, looking away.

"That's generous of you to do."

He decided to change the conversation then. "Have you noticed how you've been talking more today then usual?"

My brain froze then, eyes looking far off into the distance. I have been talking more the usual. "Is that bad?" I retorted.

Derek started to stutter as he tried to form a sentence. "No. I like hearing your voice."

Something inside me seemed to stir inside my stomach, I wasn't sure what it was though. Like butterflies flying around, making me queasy. "Okay," I replied.

Before I knew it, we were both already standing in front of Aunt Lauren's house. Her car missing from her usual parking spot on the side. Sighing I walked up the stairs with Derek trailing silently behind me. Did he think I was going to invite him in? Not to be mean or anything, but Aunt Lauren would kill me if she found out he was inside the house without her present.

Turning to face him, I said, "Well, this is my stop. Thanks for walking me, Derek."

"You're welcome."

Before I could turn and head inside, Derek had grabbed hold of my wrist and the next thing I knew, his lips had connected with my cheek. As he pulled away, I could feel my face start to heat up into the color of a tomato.

He smiled at me and left with a, "See you tomorrow, Chlo." I watched him as he disappeared from my eyesight. A small smile formed on my face at his nickname he had given me. My hand traveled up onto my cheek where his lips had been minutes ago. The so-called small smile, turned into a much bigger one.

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><p><strong>AN: ****Hello, I'm going to apologize about how bad I am for not updating for like months. Many things were going in my life I just couldn't have the time to update, and again I am so sorry. To the readers that are still reading, I hope this makes up for the times I didn't update. I promise you all I will have an update again this month. **

**Thanks for reading, now please review and tell me what you think of this chapter. Please & thanks. :) **

**~CielosDeNoche **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Heart Vacancy **

As Ms. Martin droned on and on about what she had done over the weekend, I looked out the class window, hoping it would end my misery for being in her class.

"Ugh, nobody cares what you did," muttered Tori as she doodled on her notebook. Looking closer, I noticed it was a picture of our teacher getting hit by lightning.

I snorted, causing Tori to laugh a little too. Before we knew it, the bell had rung, signaling the end of class and the start of lunch. I would have been excited to be in Biology if it weren't for the teacher I had.

As soon as we stepped out of the classroom, we both spotted Derek leaning against the wall, backpack slung over his shoulder. Clearly he was waiting for us, since I straightened up when he saw us walking out. I felt a nudge at my side. Tori had a smirk and her eyebrows were up, making me slightly blush.

She leaned closer and whispered, "Your Knight in shining armor was waiting for you, Princess." Tori pulled back just as Derek got closer to us. She gave him an innocent smile, before winking at me discreetly.

Ever since yesterday, when Derek had mustered up the courage to kiss me on the cheek, he had been waiting for me after every class. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to be leaning against a wall once the bell rang. I was thinking on asking him if he made it on time for his other classes, I didn't want to be the cause for him being late. Of course no one knew about what had happened yesterday. Tori and Simon knew there was something going on, especially since I had a smile plastered on my face when I first came to school in the morning, though my known hood was still covering my head.

Being the gentlemen Derek was, he grabbed our backpacks and slung them over his shoulder. Girls walking past us looked at us like we all three heads. Once they were done gawking, their eyes narrowed with jealousy. I hadn't known what the big deal was until I had remembered just how gorgeous Derek was. He was tall, dark, and handsome after all.

Catching the eyes of the other girls, Tori narrowed her eyes at them and asked them a 'what?' Being the girly girls they were, they flipped their hair over their shoulders and fluttered their eyes at Derek before walking farther away from us. My eyes connected with Derek's, whose then locked with Tori's, and finally mine caught Tori's as well. We all let out a laugh, making other people look at us weirdly. I would of looked at us the same way if I didn't know the reason for a laugh.

"Those bitches were so jealous of you," Tori whispered in my ear as we reached our lunch table. I shook my head and shooed her away. "It's true!"

"What's true?" Simon and Derek asked at the same time. I hadn't noticed that he was already sitting on his bench. They both looked at each other and high-fived each other, grins gracing their faces. If I wouldn't have known them, I would have guessed they were related in some way.

Instead of relying what Tori actually told me, I told them about our oh-so-great teacher, "Just that Ms. Martin _loves _to brag about what she did on the weekend."

"Oh god, I hate it when she..." And the conversation carried on. Derek kept looking at me from the corner of his eye, even when he thought I wasn't looking.

I didn't know exactly what I felt for Derek Souza. I know I had felt something when he was going to kiss me in the forest, also when he kissed me on the cheek. Ever since my parents death, I wouldn't let anyone into my life. Sure, Simon and Tori were like the brother and sister I never had, but they sort of grew on me. During middle school, they were both there close to me to use as a shoulder to cry on, or for the times I just felt let down by something that had happened in school. Aunt Lauren was always working so I wouldn't always see her, I would arrive or wake-up to an empty, hollow house with no one waiting for me. I did break down and cry several times in my room, mourning the death of my parents. The house portraying what I felt inside. I always tell myself that the Bae siblings are like my rock, they keep me rooted in place, holding on to them with my life.

I still had my moments when I would ask them to come over to Aunt Lauren's house to make me feel better. They would occasionally bring movies and would start a popcorn fight, you could say it was sort of a tradition for us.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Students from every direction started to walk with friends to their classes. Derek and I said goodbye to our friends and walked toward my sixth period class.

By the end of school, I was still pondering over my feelings for Derek Souza.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, that's chapter eight folks. Sorry it wasn't longer, writer's block seriously sucks. Which is why I am asking all my lovely readers for some ideas to inspire me for chapter 9. So, pleaseeeeee give me some ideas for the next chapter, it would help me a lot to move on with this story! **

**Thanks to everyone who is following this story & to those that review and read it! Means a lot, keeping reviewing! :) **

**~ CielosDeNoche **


	9. Chapter 9

**Feels Like I'm Waking From the Dead: Part I**

* * *

><p>The soft sound of birds chirping filled my ears as I opened my eyes to shut my alarm off. I groaned and glared at the bloody numbers displayed on the clock. I threw the covers over my head and turned around, hoping for a couple more minutes of sleep.<p>

My prayers were not answered as the alarm went off again, causing me to jump a foot in the air and landing butt first on my floor. I cringed and stayed laying on the floor, the throbbing in my butt hurting like hell.

I heard someone running in the hall and soon enough Aunt Lauren shot open my door and looked around frantically for me.

"Chloe!" She ran over to me and helped me up. I lightly sat on my bed and cringed when I thought of a bruise forming.

"What happened?" Aunt Lauren looked so worried, so I smiled slightly at her.

"I was trying to sleep again when the alarm went off," I motioned at the damn contraption. "It scared me and I hadn't realized how close to the edge I was."

"Oh, honey. You scared me!" I guilty looked away and muttered a sorry. "Well, get dressed. You wouldn't want to be late for school."

I groaned while she laughed. She patted my head and walked out of my room. I was rubbing my eyes when my phone buzzed on my nightstand. Yawning, I got up and opened the text message, not bothering to see who it was from.

**Don't wear a hood again :) - Derek**

I almost choked on my own saliva when I actually did see who it was from. Well, this isn't awkward at all. I debated whether or not I should reply. I didn't get a chance to think enough, when my phone buzzed again in my hand.

**I agree with Derek, don't wear a hood! :D - Simon**

I don't know which was stranger... the fact that Derek had texted me not to wear a hood – same goes for Simon – or that they texted me almost at the same time... and that Simon had said he agreed with Derek...

I glanced at my clock and noticed it was way too early for them to be at school already. I shyly put my phone on the nightstand and walked over to my closet, their words still circling around my head. A blush started forming on my cheeks as I remembered that not too long ago, both Derek and Simon had looked at me with a gleam in their eyes when I had laughed without my hood on during lunch. It was embarrassing, but something inside me liked it in a way. I bit my lip and shook my head.

**~.~.~.~**

Aunt Lauren looked surprised when she saw me come into the kitchen, hood less. I didn't blame her, I would have done the same. She quickly recovered and set a plate of waffles in front of me, along with milk. I smiled my thanks and ate quietly. Minutes later, she was dressed for work.

"See you later." Aunt Lauren kissed my head. I nodded my goodbye, since my mouth was stuffed with waffles.

Once I was done with my breakfast, I quickly washed my plate and cup and fast walked up to my room. I washed my teeth and grabbed my bag off of the floor, as well as my phone and left the house. Soon enough, I was in my car and driving towards the Bae family house.

I wasn't even fully parked when the front door to the house burst open and Tori came running towards my car. Her father, Kit Bae, walked out the front door, shaking his head. He smiled and waved at me before he went inside again.

"Oh. My. Gosh." I looked at her weirdly.

"What?" I asked her, carefully driving away from the house.

"Don't play innocent with me! I know what Derek and Simon did! Trust me, I can get anything out of my brother." Tori smirked as she saw the light blush on my face.

I didn't have time to reply when she started talking again, "You look great, Chloe." I saw her smiling from the corner of my eyes and I smiled my thanks back at her.

I had decided to listen to Derek and Simon, so my strawberry blonde hair was hanging around my shoulders. The weather made me decide to wear dark blue colored skinny jeans, a light baby blue flowy tank top, and black ankle leather boots.

"I cannot wait for everyone to see you at school! Anyways, I found it suspicious when Simon got up at six in the morning to go to Derek's house," she shook her head. "So when I was getting ready, they both texted me, saying they might have gotten you mad. Obviously, that's not the reason." Tori winked at me.

"Just continue, Tori." I muttered.

"I called them and asked them what they had done to have caused you to get mad. They didn't want to tell me at first, until I got it out of Simon. I almost cracked up at how worried they were. I was going to call you, but I needed to finish getting ready." Tori shrugged her shoulders and checked her eyeliner using her phone.

"It's weird," I quietly said. We had arrived at school and I had just parked the car.

"Why?"

I turned to look at her. "I've never had anyone... I mean I don't think anyone has..."

Tori must have understood cause she smiled at me. "It'll get better, Chloe. You're changing. I can see the gleam in your eyes. You're happier, even if you want to say you're not."

My face heated up after she finished. Tori then squealed and pulled me in for a hug. We pulled away and then laughed together.

"Geez, Derek needs to watch out if he wants you. Guys are going to start going crazy over you."

"Way to ruin the mood Tori," I muttered, while my face grew hotter.

We grabbed our bags and headed to our classes. The bell had rang by the time we got out of the car. We promised to see each other at lunch.

While I was walking to my English class, I kept getting stares from everyone, making me self conscious.

I entered the class and almost forgot about Emily, aka the girl who always did something to embarrass me. Only as I passed, she didn't do anything this time. When I reached my seat, I looked up to the side and saw Derek sitting, smiling at me.

I smiled back, not wanting to be rude. My face started heating up, so I looked away and around the room. Mostly everyone was looking my way, some were whispering back and forth to each other. I had prepared myself for this... at least I hoped I had. I busied myself by getting the materials I needed for class once the bell rang. I glanced up quickly, thankful when Mrs. Williams started talking and getting everyone's attention. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

Derek chuckled, making me look at him with an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"You really don't like being the center of attention do you?" He asked, trying not to laugh.

"No, I don't."

"Well, you better get used to it." I looked up at him then. "You look great by the way."

I could feel myself blushing and I was going to thank him, but Mrs. Williams cleared her throat and looked pointedly at us. This gave the rest of the study body permission to turn around and look at us... more at me.

This is going to be a fun day.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh my gosh... it has been too long! I never realized how much I missed writing for this story until I had half a page done! I am so sorry I literally took a year to update this story :( I shall update again either today or tomorrow since I have many ideas in my head for this story again! **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read my story! **

**~ CielosDeNoche**


	10. Chapter 10

**Feels Like I'm Waking From The Dead: Part II**

* * *

><p>For me to say that I didn't get anymore stares would mean that I was lying. So, the stares continued... in every class. There were times when I wanted to have my hood over my head again, but I told myself to not think about that. I don't know what was so interesting. I wouldn't have looked at someone like they were to me.<p>

Biology was the best. Tori made me forget about the stares and tried to make me laugh. Ms. Martin had assigned us a lab. The lab was about us dissecting a cat. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but whatever.

Currently, Tori had grabbed the dead cat with her gloved hands and started posing with it. I snorted and tried covering my mouth with my hand, but I cursed my luck when I noticed I couldn't, unless if I wanted germs from the cat on my face.

Tori smirked at me when she noticed our teacher was behind us, her back facing us. Ms. Martin was running her fingers through her hair and Tori tried moving the cat's paw towards its head, but it ended up snapping.

We looked at each other with wide eyes and cracked up quietly to ourselves. Ms. Martin must have heard our muffled laughs cause she turned around to look at our work. Tori and I turned serious and started talking about how interesting the dead cat was.

"You know, I think you should cut here." Tori pointed to an area on the stomach and tried to keep the paw she broke off in place.

I looked at the place she was pointing at and nodded at her while grabbing what we needed to open it.

"Great job, girls." Ms. Martin smiled at us and went to look at some other group's work.

Tori and I looked to see if she was far away and started laughing. Not just laughing, but full out laughing that tears started coming out of our eyes.

By the end we were clutching our stomachs and sucking in air. We had attracted attention from our classmates, but we didn't care. We laughed a bit more until we decided to actually do our work.

It wasn't much later that we had to clean up. Tori dangled the paw in front of my face and then dropped it in the bag with the rest of the dead cat. I laughed and went to give it to our teacher. Once we were free of all the things we had to wear, the bell rang signaling the end of class and the start of lunch.

When we walked out of the class, I was surprised to see Derek leaning against the wall, waiting for us. He didn't wait to walk me to my classes today, but I didn't dwell too much on it.

"He is so smitten with you." Tori winked at me and linked her arm with mine. I could feel a blush coming already.

"Chloe!" Someone yelled. Before we could reach Derek, I turned around to look behind me. Brent was trying to get through people.

"Hey," he breathed out. I felt Derek stand straight away from the wall. Tori left my side and went to stand where Derek was. I could feel their eyes on my back.

"What's up?" I asked, wanting to finish this as soon as possible. I scolded myself for saying that.

"Uh..." he awkwardly rubbed his neck. "Just wanted to say you look great."

I couldn't help the blush that appeared on my face. "Thanks, Brent."

He smiled wider and I swear I could see a light blush on his face. He said bye to me and left. I didn't turn around until I breathed in and out. Whoa, this day is weird.

I shook my head and walked to where Derek and Tori were standing. Derek's posture was rigged and his fists were closed tightly.

"Told you, Chloe." I looked at Tori. "Remember what I told you in the car about..."

She tipped her head to the side to motion to Derek.

Realization dawned on me. "Oh, yeah. I remember."

Tori smirked and Derek looked away. I looked down at my feet and we started walking towards our lunch spot.

Simon's backpack was already at the table which meant he was in the lunch line. Tori set her bag down and said she would be right back.

Which meant Derek and me were alone.

"So how was your day?" I almost dropped my sandwich when Derek started talking to me.

"Umm... interesting. I've never gotten these much stares." I tucked a strand of my hair behind my hair.

Derek smiled at me, but it looked like it was being forced and looked behind me. I turned around to look. Simon was walking towards the table, food in his hands. He set his food on the table and looked up at Derek and me with a smile on his face. He started unwrapping his food, when his movements froze.

I took another bite of my sandwich and risked a glance at Derek, who was already looking at me. When his emerald eyes connected with mine, I couldn't look away. I wanted to be closer to him. I wanted to-

"Dudeeeee." I was snapped back into reality when Simon started speaking. "You're not wearing a hood today!"

Derek snorted and muttered, "Dude, no way." I couldn't help but laugh.

Simon and Derek looked at me then, both of them wearing identical smiles on their faces. I was kinda freaked out that I blushed and looked away. Curse my blush.

"I'm glad you listened to us."

I was going to reply when I was cut off by Tori. "I think every guy in the school is glad she listened to your guys' advice," she said, sitting down next to me.

I must have been imagining things, but I swear I saw both Derek and Simon sit up straighter and look around, their eyes narrowed as they scanned around our hangout.

Simon focused on his lunch again as he said, "Well I don't blame them, Chloe looks great."

That must have been the three hundredth time I've heard someone say that to me. I muttered a quiet thanks and tried to focus on filling my hungry stomach.

We all talked about random things afterward. I was keeping my fingers crossed that Tori nor Derek would mention anything about Brent. I mean, he's my friend and nothing more. I barely talked to the guy.

"Chloe finally got Brent's attention." Tori smirked at me, while I just glared right back at her.

"What do you mean she _finally _got Brent's attention?" Simon seemed annoyed and Derek had his arms crossed against his chest, glaring at the lunch table.

Before Tori could answer for me, I put my hand over her mouth. "What Tori means... is that Brent surprised me when he came up to me and said I looked... great." I glared at Tori, "nothing more."

"Yeah, right." We all looked at Derek in shock. I could feel my heart breaking into tiny little pieces. I looked at my hands in my lap and could feel the familiar sting in my eyes. Simon and Tori were glaring at Derek, who was looking at something in the sky. It hurt really.

I could already feel the tears falling from my eyes and my fears were confirmed when Tori gasped and laid a hand on my arm. Simon noticed and hit Derek in the arm really hard.

I couldn't be there anymore, so I quickly grabbed my bag and picked my trash up. I threw it away and the last thing I heard coming from our table was a loud smack and Tori saying, "That was _really _low. I hope you can get her to open up to you after what you just did."

For the last 10 minutes of lunch, I spent them crying in a stall in the bathroom. Tori had texted me asking me if I was alright and if she should do anything. I had replied saying I was fine and that I wanted to be alone.

I had always thought my heart had healed from all the love my best friends and aunt had given me, but I was proven wrong. It was still raw. When Derek had said those words, my heart's stitches were pulled apart in a way so painful. I know I shouldn't let his words ruin my recovery, but it just proved to me that, that was a reason why I never opened up to anyone. A person who you think would be the ideal friend/best friend could always be the one to heal your heart, yet be the same reason for it to fall apart again. After my parent's died, I didn't know what had caused me to block everyone out, but now it made perfect sense.

And I was going to continue doing that.

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><p><strong>AN: Two reviews guys, really? :( That made me sad... Anyways I am already working on the next chapter which should be up tomorrow or Wednesday :D There may or may not be some Chlerek next chapter, but you will have to wait and see ;) **

**And to GigglingFangirl: I promise I won't make you wait another year for a chapter! :)**

**Review guys! Thanks for reading! **

**~ CielosDeNoche**


	11. Chapter 11

**My Heart is a Secret **

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><p>It was Friday and I was thankful for that. After the whole Derek thing, I had come straight home and locked myself in my room. Aunt Lauren was concerned, but when I told her that I was stressed about a major test I had, she calmed down. She had complimented me like everyone else and I smiled at her. It was the last time anyone was going to see me without a hood.<p>

By the time I had woken up, Aunt Lauren had already left for work. I did my usual routine and dressed in some skinny jeans and a sweater, the hood covering my hair again like before. When I had told Tori that I had wanted to be alone, she had texted me bright and early saying Kit was going to drop her off at school. She wasn't being messed up, she just understood that I still wanted to be alone.

I drove to school by myself and was a minuted late to class. Emily was back to her usual self since she dropped her bag in front of my feet as I was walked past her row. I was fed up with everything, so I kicked her backpack away. She glared at me and started telling Mrs. Williams.

"Mrs. Williams! Chloe kicked my backpack." I continued walking to my seat, not even bothering to look at my 'partner.'

My english teacher looked at Emily and then at me and said, "You asked for it. I was waiting for the day Chloe would do that. Now, on to the lesson." Mrs. Williams looked at me and winked. Emily looked shocked which made me smile at my favorite teacher. She may have her days, but she was awesome when it came to certain things.

For the rest of the class period, I just stared emotionless at the board that Mrs. Williams was pointing at and talking about. I was so bored that I didn't feel someone tapping my elbow until the tenth time. I sighed internally and looked at Derek, my face clearly set as saying 'what.'

"Chloe, I'm sorry for what I said yesterday." Derek's emerald eyes held sorrow and guilt, I just stared at him, not showing any type of emotion.

"It's fine." I looked back at the lesson, not caring that he clearly wanted to talk some more.

I let a sigh of relief when the bell rang. I was out the door before Derek could even say another word to me.

**~.~.~.~**

Class came and went, biology was no different. We didn't continue the lab, instead Ms. Martin surprised us with a pop quiz. I wouldn't even consider it being a quiz since it was twenty questions.

After class Tori and I started talking like usually, I wasn't going to be rude and not talk to my best friend just cause of what happened yesterday. I really wasn't expecting to see Derek waiting for us, but he was there. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I told Tori I couldn't hang out at lunch since I had to finish a project for history. It wasn't a lie.

Tori had noticed Derek waiting for us and had smiled sadly at me. She nodded an okay and started walking towards Derek, while I walked the opposite way they were going. I didn't bother looking back.

I spent my entire lunch time working on my project. I had received text messages from both Bae siblings and assured them I was alright. Aunt Lauren had sent me one as well, saying she was going to stay late at the hospital. I sighed at the thought of being home alone.

I had stayed a couple of minutes after school to do some finishing touches on my project since it was due Monday and didn't plan on doing anything over the weekend.

When I parked my car in the driveway of the house, I didn't realize someone was sitting on the steps in front of the door. I yelped and held my hand over my heart, hoping to make it stop beating so loudly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scary you." I think my heat started beating way faster then usual. I didn't say anything.

Derek stood up and walked over to stand in front of me. During the drive home, I had actually gotten sick of the hood, that I took it off and let my hair down. Derek reached over and moved a strand of my hair that was in my face behind my ear.

I didn't want to admit it, but his touch sent chills through my whole body. His emerald eyes must have seen my reaction because they softened. His hand cupped my cheek, while we kept staring at each other. My throat tightened and something inside me wanted to pull away and run into the house. The bigger part in me though told me to stay rooted in place.

Derek gave me no time to think about which way I wanted to go, instead he cupped my other cheek and held my face firmly in his hands.

"Chloe." I didn't realize I was crying until Derek wiped my tears away with his thumbs. I seriously didn't know why I was crying.

"I'm so sorry." Next thing I knew, Derek was hugging me. I would have blushed if it weren't for my tears. I felt so weak.

I didn't know how long I spent crying, but what I did know was that Derek had led me to the stairs to where he was before. We sat down, but his arms didn't leave me. He made me sit in his lap, which caused more emotions to course through my body. Basically, my head was on his chest and his was buried in my neck.

We stayed like that for a while until it was dark. It wasn't long until my cries ceased and Derek started talking.

"Chloe, I am so sorry for what I did. I didn't know what came over me when I said that. I guess I was just... annoyed with Brent. I know a sorry isn't enough and I want to make it up to you."

"It's fine, Derek." My voice cracked.

"No it's not. My parents raised me better and I won't forgive myself if I don't make it up to you." He sounded so serious, but I didn't look up at him. I just shook my head in a no.

I heard him sigh and almost felt guilty until he grabbed my chin and made me look at him. I didn't even want to know how horrible I must have looked.

"I _will _make it up to you." I must have nodded cause next thing I knew, Derek had a smile on his face, it was so contagious that I couldn't help but smile back.

"What are you going to do?" I asked him, suddenly curious.

He smiled at me and said, "What about we go see a movie tomorrow?"

My heart and mind seemed to have frozen. I started stuttering while my heart went haywire inside my chest.

"Umm... s-sure." I looked over at Derek and noticed that he was smiling so hard that it looked like his cheekbones were going to break.

He looked kind of funny so I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" He asked, narrowing his eyes playfully at me. It seemed we had forgotten what had happened just a day ago.

"Your smile just looked funny, like your cheekbones were going to fall off." I laughed again at how stupid that sounded.

"Well," he looked at me. "I don't care. I'm just happy I get to make it up to you." I could sense there was a hidden message in there, but I didn't think too much about it.

I smiled at him and blushed when I noticed I was still sitting in his lap and our faces were way to close. Derek must have noticed cause he turned a little red and had a gleam in his eyes.

Since I knew it was the right time, I got up. He smiled at me and stood up as well. We were both standing in front of the door, waiting for the other to say something.

"Uh... I'm gonna go inside now. My aunt should be coming home any moment." I hated lying to Derek, but I needed to breath and think about what had just happened.

"Yeah, okay. I have to go feed Sky anyways." He rubbed his neck awkwardly and looked away.

I don't know what caused me to do it, but I took the opportunity to kiss his cheek. He looked just as shocked as I was.

I blushed and said a quick bye and went inside the house. I patted myself on the back for a great work and peeked outside. Derek was already walking away, but kept looking back at the house. When he was out of sight, I ran up to my room and screamed into my pillow.

In my life, there's been heartache and pain. I don't know if I can face it again, but I knew one thing.

I was going to go out with Derek tomorrow.

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><p><strong>AN: I literally wanted to cry when I saw how many people reviewed this time! :D Thanks guys, keep those reviews coming! They make me so happy! There you have it folks, of course there will be some major Chlerek time in the next chapter. ;) **

**Got to tell some things to my reviewers: **

** MollieJanee: Thank you for your lovely review :') **

** NerdAndProud77: I am so sorry for making you make a year, really I am. And I promise I won't make you wait a year, I plan on finishing this story! :D **

** fireicegirl16: Of course he likes her ;) hahaha **

**Thanks for everything guys! Expect the next chapter later today or tomorrow! **

**~ CielosDeNoche**


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